Comminuted material recovery unit



Feb. 1, 1955 E. PURSE ET AL COMMINUTED MATERIAL RECOVERY UNIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 50, 1952 INVENTOR. Elbert EHawkms BY Ernest Purse Attorney Feb. 1, 1955 PURSE; ET AL 2,701,086

COMMINUTED MATERIAL RECOVERY UNIT Filed June 50, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 m 8 29 2 ,6 5" I2 I I *3 INVENTOR.

Elbert E Haw/ribs BY E rr'esf Purse Attorney United States Patent COMMINUTED MATERIAL RECOVERY UNIT Ernest Purse, Oakland, and Elbert E. Hawkins, San Francisco, Calif.

Application June 30, 1952, Serial No. 296,522

6 Claims. (Cl. 226-129) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), see. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention relates to a unit for recovering material spilled on the tops of containers passing through automatic container filling machines. More particularly, the invention relates to a unit for recovering comminuted material from the tops of cans having central filling openings. While the invention is applicable to various materials, it will be described for convenience as applied to ground coffee.

In the system to which the invention applies, the type of container commonly used is a four-sided can with a generally fiat top. Coffee is packed into the can by pouring it through a central opening in the top. In order to pack the coffee firmly within the can, the can is vibrated. This results in the spilling of some of the coffee out onto the top of the can. In the prior art system this spilled coffee was brushed oil? by hand onto the floor and thus wasted.

An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for automatically recovering material spilled on the tops of containers, such as cans or the like, for use in connection with a system in which the cans move along an endless conveyor.

In the packing system with which this invention is concerned, the can while moving along an endless conveyor arrives under a hopper, is stopped, and is filled with coffee. During the filling, and possibly for some time thereafter, the can is vibrated to pack the coffee firmly and thereafter is moved along until it reaches the recovery unit of this invention. This unit includes a hood which is automatically brought against the open top of the can. A plug carried by the hood closes the filling opening of the can and suction applied to the hood removes the coffee spilled on top of the can. Since the opening in the can is blocked off by the plug, no coffee is withdrawn from the filled can itself. The coffee thus recovered is returned to the original storage bins for future use. The apparatus is so arranged that the events in the cycle take place automatically.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front view of the apparatus of the present invention with portions thereof broken away for better visibility and with two containers in place shown in phantom;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the device of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevation view taken from the left in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an elevation, partly broken away, taken from the right in Fig. 1.

Reference is now made to the several figures wherein numeral 1 indicates a standard or support for the recovery unit shown in association with the continuously moving belt conveyor having two belts 3 and 4. The recovery unit, designed in this case for use simultaneously on two containers, includes a frame, indicated generally at 5, carrying a pair of suction hoods 6 and 7 connected to an exhaust duct 8. A pair of containers 9 and 10 are shown in place under the hoods, being held against motion by the stop 11. The framework is made up generally of two plate frames 12 and 13, spaced from each ice other by tubular members 14 to which they are tightly clamped to form a rigid framework by means of nuts 16 and 17. The tubular members 14 mount the frame 5 for displacement along four supporting rods 18, which are firmly attached at their lower ends to the frame of the conveyor, and there fastened with any convenient means such as nuts 20. At their opposite ends the rods 18 are rigidly fastened as by nuts 21 to a plate frame 22. The frame 5 is urged upwardly by coiled springs 23 surrounding the rods 18 and reacting against ad ustable stop collars 24, held in place by set screws, the upper limit of its motion being determined by the abutment of the nuts 16 against the adjustable stop collars 25. Motion of the frame 5 is controlled by rocker arms 27 acting against adjustable pressure pads 28, carried by braces 29 of the frame 5. The rocker arms are controlled by cams 30, riving cam followers 31 on the ends of the push rods 32 connected to the rocker arms. The cams 30 are mounted on shaft 34 driven, for eX- ample, by a chain and sprocket arrangement 35 in syn chronism with the continuously operating conveyor and with certain other mechanism to be hereinafter de-.

scribed.

The stop means 11 on the end of a lever 36, weighted at 37 so as to be urged into stopping position, is depressed out of stopping position by a cam 38 acting through a cam follower 39 and connecting rod 40. The cam shaft 41 carrying the cam 40 is also driven in synchronism with the belt conveyor and hence with the cam shaft 34 and other mechanism to be described.

The hoods 6 and 7, as shown particularly in Fig. 1, include a generally conical plug 42 tapered as at 43 to plug the particular opening of the containers used with the device, but providing adequate space as at 44 through which the suction can operate to draw up the material spilled onto the tops of the cans.

Operation In operation a pair of containers are assumed to have just been filled at the filling station somewhat to the left of the device shown in Fig. 1. The containers are released from the filling station and are transported by the belt conveyor until they arrive at the position shown in phantom in Fig. l underneath the recovery unit. The mechanism releasing the cans from their stopped position under the filling unit is synchronized with the mechanism of the recovery unit so that at the time: that the belt conveyor brings the cans into position under the recovery unit, the stop 11 has risen into the position shown in Fig. l to stop the containers in place under the recovery unit. Thereafter, operation of the cam 30 causes the rocker arm 27 to depress the frame 5, bringing the hoods and the containers into juxtaposition with each other. The motion of the frame 5 is opposed by the springs 23 and these combined with the rocker arms 27 to keep the hoods firmly in position. The motion of the hood is facilitated by a sliding joint at the duct 8. As the hoods and containers approach each other, the plugs 42 close off the filling openings in the containers and suction applied through the duct 8 removes spilled material from the tops of the cans. When this has been accomplished the cam 30 has rotated sufficiently to allow the springs 23 to lift off the hoods from the containers and the stop 11 has been depressed below the level of the conveyor belts by the cam 38, thus allowing the conveyor belts to carry the filled containers to the next station where they are ready to be sealed.

Although not shown, a valve in the duct 8 can be used, synchronized with the rest of the mechanism, so as to apply suction only When the hoods are firmly in place on top of the cans. However, such a valve is not always necessary inasmuch as, in the design shown, the path of the suction stream is such as not to draw any material from the filling openings of the containers, even prior to the time when the plugs 42 have completely closed the openings in the containers.

The cans are held in position by the stop 11 during the suction material-removal step and the conveyor belts 3 and 4, in this instance made of a rubber fabric or the like, simply slip past under the containers. It is equally possible to lift the containers off the belts against the hoods by means of a lever arrangement controlled in synchronism as by shaft 41 instead of moving the hoods down onto the containers. This arrangement is particularly satisfactory when the conveyors, instead of being of reinforced rubber fabric, are made in the form of metal chains which do not slip very readily, or would mar the containers by so doing.

Although the construction shown in the illustrated em bodiment is primarily metal, other materials can be used. Adequate sealing of the filling opening and adequate suction can be obtained with metal to metal contact, but it has also been found quite satisfactory to attach rubber sealing strips to the suction hood and to the plug of the hood to provide tight engagement with the can. Although the plug is shown as an integral part of the hood, apparently the two could be made separately and caused, by synchronized arrangements, to function simultaneously. I

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

l. In an automatic filling unit wherein a container traveling on a moving conveyor is filled with a comminuted material, said container having a wall with a filling opening pierced therethrough; an apparatus for removal of accumulations of said material from the exterior of the container lying on the solid portion of said wall adjacent said filling opening, comprising a suction hood for drawing off said accumulations of material mounted above said conveyor and being positioned and aproned to be adapted to span that wall of the container having a filling opening, the shape and size of the entry opening of the hood being determined by the shape and size of the solid portion of said container wall subject to said accumulations, so that said hood can cover the region of the wall subject to said accumulations and can remove said accumulations when said entry open: ing is brought close to said solid portion; a plug for engagement with the filling opening in the container wall for closing off said opening; automatic stop means for interrupting travel of a filled container; and means synchronized with said stop means for automatically, when the movement of the container is interrupted, causing juxtaposition of said hood and plug with said container so that said plug can plug said filling opening and said hood can draw off said accumulations.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said stop means includes a pivoted arm adapted for engagement with a container and urged into stopping position by an unbalanced portion of said arm, and a cam and follower mechanism for displacing said arm from stopping position, said mechanism being driven in synchronism with said conveyor.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said juxtaposition-causing means includes a cam and follower mechanism driven in synchronism with said conveyor.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 including a frame on which said hood is movably mounted for motion toward and away from a container in ready position on said conveyor, spring means for urging said hood away from said container, and rocker arm means operated by said second-mentioned cam and follower mechanism for urging said hood toward said container against the action of said spring means.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said plug is attached to and moves with said hood.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said pivoted arm is mounted to engage said container adjacent the bottom thereof where it rests on said conveyor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

